I see you’ve done a lot of work to justify your stance.
I’m not convinced that your interpretation is what the Lord intended. You suggest that there is something that must be done on our part to be “saved” (baptism), steals the meaning of “grace”. The Bible and Word of God does NOT contradict itself. You are either saved from the second you believe in Christ during this dispensation or countless verses must be wrong.
I hold firm that baptism is an outward expression of an inward reality that we are saved by faith through grace. You suggest that a man dying on the battlefield from a wound who FINALLY comes to Christ and dies without baptism because there isn’t a pool of water to baptize is sent tho HELL????
Where in Acts 2:38 does it mention saving faith? It’s not implied anywhere. This verse applies to saved Christians only, since it’s assumed they’ve already acquired that saving faith in what Romans 10:9-10, John 6:29, John 11:25.
If someone is hungering and thirsting for righteousness, God sends a witness, and makes a way, even in the desert:
Acts 8:26 “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, WHICH IS DESERT”.
There you have Philip enjoying the moment, with the newborns in Samaria, and is told to take a 50 mile hike into DESERT. And what does he find, a hungry heart that believes the message and is baptized........in the desert.
8:36,37”...See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest...”. There was enough water for BOTH of them to go down into the water.
If we want to imagine every scenario for conversion, should we just encourage the last moment of life ones? That would really make for a world of chaos, by telling folks that you can wait until the last second, your last breath, to make a decision for Christ.
Crime would surely increase. Well, sin as a whole would increase, no doubt.
WAIT! That is what we have now!
There are multitudes that believe that “Jesus died for my sins”, and live the most ungodly lives. They’ve been told that all they have to do is believe, and they are saved. They aren’t taught repentance. They aren’t taught the Lord’s guide lines for rebirth.
Jesus Christ wants each one of us to be buried with him. He makes that VERY clear. It’s the main-stream ministers that (not unlike the Democrats) want to add numbers as easily as possible, even if it means rejecting parts of the Lord’s ordained plan (just as the Dems want to reject parts of the Constitution).
**Where in Acts 2:38 does it mention saving faith? It’s not implied anywhere.**
You are supposed to believe that obedience to Acts 2:38 is God’s will. That why that verse is there, right after some convicted souls asked, “What shall we do?”.
**This verse applies to saved Christians only, since it’s assumed they’ve already acquired that saving faith in what Romans 10:9-10, John 6:29, John 11:25.**
You are interpretting it to suit a presupposed position, instead of believing it like a little child.
**John 6:29; 11:25**
You are claiming to “believe on him”, but don’t seem to agree with his commissions. Acts 2:38 agrees with those commissions.
Here’s another one from the Lord, that he spoke when praying for his disciples: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through THEIR WORD”. John 17:20
You choose to reserve the right of scriptural sorting. You like certain verses in Romans. So I go to Romans, and show you context. Here’s one that I gave you, that you need to memorize as much as the others:
6:16 “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 17 Being THEN made FREE from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
You select a few verses of 1 Corinthians. So I go there and show you context.
You select one verse of Acts 16, and leave out the full conversion story. I go there, and show you context.
**You suggest that there is something that must be done on our part to be “saved” (baptism), steals the meaning of “grace”.**
Obedience to the Lord is not ‘stealing’.
You say faith through grace is without works. Then where do you draw the line? How many calories burned to make the confession of faith is allowable? Some people walk miles to hear a preacher. It’s okay to move leg muscles to go hear the preacher. It’s okay to move jaw muscles to make a confession of faith. BUT, it’s NOT okay to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, for that VERY REASON.
Many haven’t heard this rebirth message taught as the Word teaches it. You have. He is offering you remission of sins (grace) HIS way, not yours. (I fought this doctrine for quite some time, but to no avail. There is too much to refute. The Lord has given ample evidence, even types and shadows:
The creation: the earth ‘buried at sea’, rises (so to speak), and life comes forth.
Noah: the Flood buried a sinful world, new life arose from it.
Moses: condemned to death (remember, he didn’t even have the name ‘Moses’ until he was ‘drawn from the water’ to life.
The Red Sea: the passover lamb saved the first born, but the Red Sea saved them all;...”our fathers were under the cloud, and ALL pased through the sea; and were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” 1Cor. 10:1,2 (They were born of the water and of the Spirit, in type and shadow)
Jonah: He was buried at sea, but arose from the depths a new determined preacher.
**You are either saved from the second you believe in Christ during this dispensation or countless verses must be wrong.**
Meaning verses that mention ‘believe’, or ‘believeth’? You can’t scripturally believe in Jesus Christ, while picking and choosing his words that suit your plan of salvation.
Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16; Luke 24:47; and John 20:23, all point to Acts 2:38.